On Tuesday, two planes of the Emergencies Ministry, Il-76 and Il-62, delivered a 44-tonne humanitarian consignment to Syria's Latakia. On the way back Il-62 took 37 people onboard, including 24 Russians, three Ukrainians, one Kazakh citizen and seven Syrians - husbands of Russian women, who left Syria with their families.

The plane landed at Moscow Domodedovo Airport, where it was met by officials from the Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Migration Service and embassies.

"Among those who returned from Syria are nineteen women and eight children," Rossius said.

In 2013 the Russian Emergencies Ministry sent over 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Syria and neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. Another 70 tonnes were intended for Palestinian refugees in Syria. The humanitarian consignment consisted of tents, electric generators, dishware, camp furniture, blankets, food and baby food.

The ministry's planes brought around 900 citizens of Russia and the CIS member-states back to their homeland.